SSB men flagged off for 1st Mt everest expedition

New Delhi: A 10-member contingent of border guarding force SSB was Tuesday flagged off to conquer the world`s tallest peak Mount Everest.

The contingent, first of the force to the 8,848-metre tall summit, is expected to reach the top in the middle of May.

Union Home Secretary R K Singh flagged off the contingent and presented the climbing axe, sporting the Indian and the force flag, to the squad commander and SSB Commandant Somit Joshi at an event at the forces` headquarter here.

He wished the squad success.
The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), established in 1963 in the wake of Chinese aggression, is celebrating its golden jubilee of raising this year.

The squad, equipped with modern mountaineering gadgets, will scale the peak from the Nepalese side and has undergone extensive mountaineering training at domestic peaks in the country.

SSB chief Arun Chaudhary said the force would undertake a number of events throughout the year to celebrate 50 years of its existence.
The Director General said the first Mt Everest expedition of the force will surely bring a spirit of adventure amongst the personnel of the paramilitary.

The SSB guards the 1,751 km Indo-Nepal border and the 699 km frontier with Bhutan and is also the lead intelligence gathering agency on these two frontiers.